Former magistrate asks to unseal parts of her sexual harassment case against Judge David Berta

ELYRIA -- Attorneys for Lucinda McConnell, Judge David Berta's former magistrate, have asked a visiting judge to reconsider sealing parts of the case in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Berta.

Berta's attorneys asked former Summit County Judge Patricia Cosgrove to seal deposition transcripts, exhibits and a motion for summary judgment. The request asked to seal transcripts of McConnell, who is suing Berta; Berta and James Maschari, who is Berta's former bailiff, that contain any personal information that would be inappropriate "for public dissemination." Cosgrove granted the request by Berta's attorney Kimberly Riley.

Michael Ries, one of McConnell's attorneys, asserted that Berta is trying to exploit a small portion of confidential information in the transcripts rather than redacting the information or only filing the confidential parts under seal. Ries also wrote that Berta did not demonstrate good cause for sealing parts of the record.

"Defendant Berta's position -- that even a scintilla of confidential information warrants a wholesale blanket sealing of documents -- creates an exception that essentially swallows the general rule prohibiting the filing of documents under seal," Ries wrote.

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The documents have information on Berta's father's medical history. Ries wrote that portions of the document containing that information should have been redacted before filing.

Berta argued that testimony regarding a bar grievance filed against him should be filed under seal. It was never made into a formal disciplinary complaint. Ries agreed that a grievance that was not made into a formal complaint should remain confidential, but argued that the mention of the grievance should be redacted from a transcript, rather than sealing the entire transcript.

McConnell was employed as a magistrate for Berta from 2007 to 2011, and she alleges that Berta made comments about her body, sexual acts and about the bodies of other female staff members, according to the lawsuit. There were no alleged comments made about male staff members it also states.

McConnell also stated that Berta would scream at her for "mistakes made by her male co-workers," but not at the men for mistakes made by female co-workers. Berta also would allegedly call the women "whores" and "stupid (expletive)." The lawsuit also states that he would throw chairs and has flipped over a table.

When McConnell resigned in April 2011, Berta said at the time that she did not offer a clear reason why, and that the two had gotten along. But the lawsuit states McConnell resigned because "working conditions became so intolerable, and the disciplinary action was so inflammatory and false that plaintiff (McConnell) could not continue working for defendants (Berta, Lorain County Commissioners)."

McConnell's lawsuit was filed days before the March 2012 Democratic primary in which Berta lost his re-election bid.